Residents urge action on unpaved Doris Drive spur; Firewise group and property owners warn of evacuation risk

Several residents from the North Church Street / Doris Drive neighborhood urged the Grass Valley City Council to address an unimproved spur of Doris Drive they say poses a safety and evacuation risk in a wildfire or other emergency.

Virginia Whitehead, leader of the Washington Hill Firewise Community, told the council her neighborhood’s boundaries have expanded to roughly 400 residences and that a short, unimproved section of Doris Drive between North Church Street and the Cypress Hill development is now the only secondary egress in some parts of the neighborhood. "If there ever was a fire or something that blocked North Church, everyone would be evacuating out of that area," Whitehead said, adding that the unpaved road is "almost impassable" and includes blind corners.

Property owner Brian (surname unclear from record) described the 4.3-acre parcel he owns adjacent to the unimproved section and said he would like to see the property used for community benefit (for example a terraced garden) and for water-storage that could support firefighting. "We could store water up there because all the houses on that hill are made out of sticks," he said, adding that gravity-fed water stored on the site could provide tens of thousands of gallons for response.

Resident Joseph Weber said a blind corner in front of his home lacks signage and called the road condition "the worst road that you could ever imagine." Irene Frazier, a longtime resident who described annexation history dating to 1988 and 1997, said the city paved much of Doris Drive after annexation but left a private portion unpaved; she asked the city for "regular grading and graveling of the small unpaved portion of the road" rather than full paving.

At one point a speaker raised concerns that Tim Kaiser (named in the record) had refused to allocate resources for the road; a staff speaker responded that the stretch being discussed is private property and said no one had contacted that staff person directly about a request and offered to meet. An emailed public comment from Janice Bedain (Bernice Drive) reiterated neighbors’ request that the city maintain the unimproved segment as gravel to ensure passable emergency egress and noted the neighborhood had joined the Washington Hill Fire Coalition.

Council members did not take formal action on the item during general public comment; the record shows residents asked for grading and limited improvements to keep the route passable in emergencies and requested clearer responsibility for maintenance. City staff offered to meet with residents to clarify ownership, maintenance responsibilities and possible interim safety measures such as signage and grading.